The present invention relates to an auto-reversal tape player, and more particularly to a head base supporting device in the auto-reversal tape player for supporting a head base mounting a magnetic head thereon to a chassis with the head base reliably prevented from being disengaged from the chassis without providing any stopper parts.
A conventional head base supporting device in the auto-reversal tape player is shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 designates a chassis provided with a pair of reel supports 2a and 2b for supporting a pair of tape reels in a cassette case (not shown) and rotatably driving either of the tape reels. A head base 3 mounting a magnetic head 4 thereon is supported on the chassis 1 in such a manner as to be movable in counter directions as depicted by a double-headed arrow A-B. When the head base 3 is moved in the direction A, the magnetic head 4 is brought toward a magnetic tape exposed from the cassette case, while when the head base 3 is moved in the direction B, the magnetic head 4 is moved away from the magnetic tape.
The head base 3 is formed with a slide hole 3a elongated in the directions A-B and a relatively wide hole 3c continuing from an open end 3b of the slide hole 3a. On the other hand, the chassis 1 is provided with a fixed guide projection 5 adapted to engage the slide hole 3a of the head base 3. The guide projection 5 is constructed of a neck portion 5a projecting from the chassis 1 and a head portion 5b formed at an upper end of the neck portion 5a and having a width greater than a width of the neck portion 5a. In mounting the head base 3 onto the chassis 1, the hole 3c of the head base 3 is fitted with the head portion 5b of the guide projection 5, and the head base 3 is then moved in the direction B to bring the slide hole 3a into slidable engagement with the neck portion 5a. Thus, the head base 3 is supported to the chassis 1 movably in the directions A-B.
In the above prior art head base supporting device, however, when the head base 3 is moved in the direction A to a position where the hole 3c is registered with the head portion 5b, the head base 3 is released from the chassis 1. To cope with this disadvantage, it is necessary to provide a stopper for restricting an amount of movement of the head base 3 in the direction A after mounting the head base 3 onto the chassis 1 and fix the stopper by using a screw. However, there is a possibility that the screw will be loosened or an external force is applied to the stopper to cause slippage of the stopper and resultant disengagement of the head base 3 from the chassis 1.